Modern Mirrorless: Canon EOS M5 Review

Introduction

The Canon EOS M5 is the most enthusiast-friendly EOS M yet. It's a 24MP mirrorless camera built around a Dual Pixel APS-C sensor, giving it depth-aware focus across most of the frame. On top of this it adds a built-in electronic viewfinder, a good number of external controls (including twin control dials) and a well implemented touchscreen.

This level of direct control puts it comfortably ahead of Sony's a6000 and a6300, and more on par with Panasonic's GX85 (GX80 in some markets) and GX8 enthusiast models. All of these cameras aim to offer stills and video capabilities in relatively small bodies but with a reasonable level of direct external control.

Key Specifications

24MP Dual Pixel APS-C CMOS Sensor

2.36M-dot OLED electronic viewfinder

1.62M-dot tilting rear touchscreen

Electronic video stabilization combines with in-lens IS to give 5-axis IS

7 fps continuous shooting (9 fps with focus and exposure locked)

Wi-Fi with always-connected Bluetooth

The Canon EOS M5 is a very approachable camera, despite all those buttons and dials. In fact, it's the implementation of this touchscreen that, in general, we're most impressed with. Much like the system developed by Panasonic, the M5 not only lets you use the rear touchscreen to position focus, it also allows its use as a touchpad to move the focus point when you're shooting through the viewfinder. This, combined with decisive autofocus, has proven to be significant for both stills and video shooting.

The camera has four dials in total: two main dials on the top of the camera, a dedicated exposure compensation dial and a fourth dial encircling the four-way controller on the back of the camera. This is a much higher level of direct control than offered on the simpler EOS M-series models offered previously, suggesting Canon expects the user to take more hands-on control of the shooting experience.

Three of the four control dials on the M5 are on the top plate, giving users easy access to exposure parameters.

While the lack of 4K video capability is a disappointment, the ability to use the touchscreen to re-position the focus point with a high level of confidence that the camera will smoothly glide the focus to the right point is highly desirable.

The touchscreen-plus-Dual-Pixel-AF combination is also useful for stills shooting - you can not only use the touchscreen to drag the focus point around the screen but also use it to select between available faces if shooting or recording in face detection mode.

The other significant benefit of the M5 finally receiving Canon's Dual Pixel AF system is that it is now able to focus adapted EF and EF-S lenses veryeffectively - overall performance isn't quite the same as an 80D in Live View mode, but it's leaps and bounds ahead of any previous M camera. You're also no longer limited to the small central focus area offered when using comparable Rebel / EOS x-hundredD DSLR models, and focusing is almost DSLR-quick and decisive.

Compared with its peers

The enthusiast photographer has a good number of choices when looking for a reasonably sized mirrorless camera with a good degree of direct controls. Sony offers the a6000 and a6300 (the higher-specced a6500 comes in at a significant premium over the EOS M5), depending on how much you need 4K video and how demanding your AF needs are. Meanwhile, Panasonic offers both the GX85 and GX8, with the more expensive model offering higher resolution and a better viewfinder. Olympus's E-M5 Mark II offers a broadly similar feature set and form factor. All of these models are extremely capable, with ease-of-use being the Canon's most obvious response to their broadly higher video specifications.

Canon EOS M5

Sony a6300

Panasonic GX8

MSRP

$1099 with 15-45mm lens

$1149 with 16-50mm lens

$1199 body only

Pixel count

24MP

24MP

20MP

Focus method

'Dual Pixel' on-sensor PDAF

On-sensor PDAF

Contrast detection*

EVF

2.36M dots

2.36M dots

2.36M dots

Dials

Two on top plateExposure CompFour-way/dial

Top plateFour-way/dial

Two on top plateExposure Comp

Continuous shooting

9 fps(7 with live view and C-AF)

11 fps(8 with live view)

8 fps(5.5 with live view)

Video specifications

1080/60p

4K/30p1080/120p

4K/30p1080/60p

Peaking/Zebra

Yes/No

Yes/Yes

Yes/Yes

Touch focus in video

Yes

No

Yes

Battery lifeScreen/EVF

295/295 shots

400/350 shots

330/310 shots

* When using Panasonic-branded lenses the GX8 adds distance prediction based on the out-of-focus characteristics of the lens (A system the company calls 'Depth From Defocus').

So, is the EOS M5 the mirrorless tour de force we've been expecting from Canon? It's no secret that we found it to be an incredibly promising camera, even if it is a bit late to the party. To find out just how compelling an option the M5 is, let's press on.

Comments

The posted specs above list 'remote control via app or wireless controller', but photos of the body clearly show an icon for a wired remote port on the cover for the left side ports. You may want to update the review to include that.

comparable only to A6000 not A6300 for lack of 4kThe $400 or so premium is the price u paid for the Canon name

come one, u think have a camera with "Canon" on it don't cost u some money?

after all, like it all not, many still associate Canon with professional and who know whatelse

image, brand name all cost you money. So paid $400 over A6000 if u think it is worth itdon't paid if like me don't care (of course I consider myself knowledgeable on camera and not someone on the street)

Err, what? I'm a Sony user, and know full well that they're the kings of making you pay for branding (Zony lenses being the perfect example).I think the price is entirely reasonable, 4K is hardly the ultimate yardstick for pricing. That Dual Pixel sensor is quite expensive to make, the body looks to be built to a very good standard (probably much better than the dinky A6000), and the lenses are good and cheap, just slow.Also, all the M cameras have plummeted in price after a couple of months, and I don't expect this to change just yet - Canon has been playing a very dangerous game of firesale-fueled volume to reach the #3 spot in ML, and I don't think they're ready yet to give that up in favor of larger margins.

So my takeaway is that the in body IS only works for video and only in conjunction with lenses that already have IS? So it will not benefit lenses without IS or legacy non stabilized lenses. If true that is a huge miss for Canon. Probably on purpose but still, that really limits the effectiveness and is different than how most in body stabilization cameras work.

The first impressions review mentioned it as electronic stabilization for video. So it's unclear whether it's in-body sensor shift or simply an algorithm applied digitally. It does seem to imply that the 5-axis IS isn't available for stills.

If you watch the official Canon video, it clears it up. There's both fully electronic 5-axis stabilization with any lens, or combined IS with the 15-45mm and the 18-150mm. It's not very impressive, though.

I doubt the IBIS is so restricted. I've been shooting IBIS for years with Olympus. Its a simple concept that even stabilizes 50 year old manual focus lenses. I don't see why Canon's IBIS would be that much worse than Olympus' or Panasonic's.

I think this is not real IBIS like Olympus or some Sony have. This is just frame-to-frame image shift to make video look more stable, each frame is individually just as blurred by the motion as with no stabilization. That is why it doesn't work for still photos.

It's not IBIS as in mechanical sensor shift. It's electronic/digital stabilisation, like the "5-axis" IS in some of Panasonic's and Olympus' compact cameras. Not the same thing as the IBIS in the OM-D cameras.

Its really strange for any mirrorless camera not to have a touchscreen. Fuji makes, arguably the best articulating screen on the market with the XT2. But its not a touchscreen. Fuji feels a bit like Apple to me... just like Apple dug its heels in years ago with trying to keep a 1-button mouse (when the rest of the world were cool with right click), so too does Fuji cling to this non-touchscreen, as if there is something noble about it.

Bhima78...there is something noble about it...touchscreens are crap!!They serve a purpose only on smart phones (even there not always convincingly useable).Physical buttons,,if engineered properly will always be a better option than touchscreens...

And great physical buttons in conjunction with a superb touch interface will even be better. That is what the M5 is about.

I already liked touch shutter release, selecting the focus point immediately and reviewing images easy and quick like on every smartphone when I did stills. For capturing movies without using a several thousand dollar rig a flexible touchscreen is a must in many cases.

But for sure the Fuji X-T2 blows its horn with 4K video but makes it so cumbersome to use it efficiently. A simple touch screen would have gone a long way. Or alternatively leave out on 4K and not call for a crazy price.

Easy and highly accessable user interfaces are neither the strong point of Fuji nor of A6000 or A6300.

If you like only physical controls, and using a D-pad to chimp to the focus point or use focus recompose, you can still do that on an E-M5 or any other touchscreen mirrorless camera. No one is advocating touchscreen only, we are saying that, you might as well add a touch-sensitive layer to the screen on the back as it gives many photographers another option that increases the flexibility of shooting. For those that hate it, they can literally turn it the heck off and never deal with it again.

@justmeE-mount cameras had a touchscreen in2011. Sony subsequently removed it - probably to protect the cameras from petty criticism. Supporters of rival brands have always pointed to features such as a touch screen or face-detect as an example of how the Sony cameras don't play in the serious sphere.

Even on this thread there are posters claiming that Sony doesn't make a professional camera despite the A7rII's advanced feature set and choice of about sixty e-mount lenses including the very best available in their focal lengths.

I have no doubt that the next e-mount cameras will have touch screen - Sony has shown commitment to listening to its users over the last few years. And of course the announcement of a new camera could be just days away.

it's so bad and so expensive with this options against rivals,you compare it with a6300?really? it's not even close to a6000 with 500$ price canon always use smaller apsc sensors than others,focus points are less than a6000,a6300 425 focus points would destroy this camand worst batterylife,and it's too big almost bigger than sony FF mirrorless cameras

Do you even know what you talking about of just bashing anything Canon?The Canon Dual Pixel has around 20 million focus points as it can use every pixel for focusing and it's using around 80% of the 24 million the sensor has.

Obvious Sony troll. You can bash anything you want if it pleases you but at least get on with the facts.

comparable only to A6000 not A6300 for lack of 4kThe $400 or so premium is the price u paid for the Canon name

come one, u think have a camera with "Canon" on it don't cost u some money?

after all, like it all not, many still associate Canon with professional and who know what else

image, brand name all cost you money. So paid $400 over A6000 if u think it is worth itdon't paid if like me don't care (of course I consider myself knowledgeable on camera and not someone on the street)

@Jefftan: I just replied to the first poster who said the A6300 has more AF points.I am the one who thinks that the actual real life performance is what matters and not the amount of AF points or special lens elements, etc

A 60 AF point system can work better than one with 200 points. Specs is just a number.

But according to many reviewers the dual pixel AF works amazing well in both stills and video and has lots of potential still. A Canon executive said in an interview that as processing power increases it can be used even better as it needs huge amounts of processing power.

a6300 is over priced and have focus problem? lol i have a6000 and a6300 and use 85mm Gmaster the sharpest lens on apsc and fullframe it preduce 20M-ppix with a6000 sensors,and i took thousand portraits with this combo and used EYE aF all the time never wrong focus pointsay anything you want,Canon lose sesnors technology to others like sony and fuji and sigma,why?because they use old algoritm against fuji Xtrans and Sigma Favon and sony colour depth and dynamic rangei'm not bashing anyone,it's a Fact if you are not a fan you would accept itand canon use smaller apsc sensors than otherscanon use just the small things like touch screen for selling cameras

Single point+recompose is one of the slowest and most error prone ways to focus but if you got nothing else... well you have to make do. Of course this will be what you like if you never had any better solutions.

Yes well. The A6300 has 4K. So why is it 700$ more than the A6000? I expected at least a big improvement of the user interface for that price but now 4K is all we get. Pretty much the same with the X-T2. But at least that one has some professional body features.

a6300 has better sesnor better low light test and iso performance i can show you this in DXo sesnor lab,8fps live view con shooting,better body,4k,425 focus point the best sony focus system,better EVF and LCD,Support for line input from professional audio devices,120 fps slow motion over a6000it's enough? and it's not 700$ more expensive

Not everyone cares about specs. Many people just want a good, reliable camera made by a company they're familiar with.And about the "greed", I don't think Canon's competitors are any less interested in sales revenue or profit margins than Canon is. They're all in it for the money.

Why is it a great move? Why would I spend twice as much for this as one of their compact DSLR's? Why wouldn't I buy a 80D for about the same money. Nikon does seem to napping on its mirrorless, ( I can't believe its going to take a year for the DL line, really Nikon?) but I really don't think this is the direction.

Very good point sandy. For the same price why would I buy the M5 vs the 80D? I am a mirrorless fan, but I see no real reason. If the M5 4K, zebras, headphone jack, a couple of hundreds less expensive, still it would be hard to pick the M5 vs the 80D. The 80D has a high-speed AF system with OVF, which totally missing from the M5. If the M5 has very high quality (size, resolution, speed, refresh rate) EVF is still a question. The M5 biggest competitor is the 80D, very good point. Even Fujifilm was capable of adding 4K to its latest model. When Sony comes out with next iteration of touch-operable, 24M, 4K, IBIS, PDAF full frame A7 series for a couple of hundreds more, that would be definitely a much better option. At first I was thrilled as a mirrorless fan, but now, I am asking myself who is this camera for actually with all these limitations when we can buy a genuine Canon 80D with the same/more features for the same price?

Still, I'd pick the M5 over 80D, since it is somehow smaller and can fit better in my bag; definitely a better always-with-me camera than the 80D. I'd have loved, if it had GPS, 4K, USB3, USB-powered, headphone jack, but anyhow, I'd pick the M5 vs most Sony for the touch screen as well as since, supposedly, the M5 has decent in-camera (raw) image processing, PictBridge over WiFi to connect the Canon CP1200 mobile printer. I'd expect some in-camera video trimming/splitting feature, too. A high resolution LCD of the M5 would be of a great value for in-camera processing. The Sony's have some in-camera apps that can do (decent) still image processing, but no video trimming and no direct printing.

Maybe it is just me, but the m5 brings eye level video shooting for the first time. A very big deal to me, and enough reason to move from my Baby Rebel, the SL1 (while my photo purist wife sticks with her 5DSR and 7D).

As Bhima said:1) compact2) Full featured touch controls3) EVFs are better than middle-road DSLR view finders

Getting rid of the OVF and the error prone AF going along with it and having a tightly integrated digital experience is what Mirrorless is about.

When Sony comes up with an A7III with a Zeiss lens kit for a total of 5 or 6K US$ I will not lay awake because I do not afford this kind of money and size for a portable go along camera. I love my cheap and portable 11-22/22/50 combo.

I'm primarily a Canon shooter but bought the Sony a6300 back in March. I'm looking to get rid of it as soon as I can so I can pick up the Canon EOS 5M, for 4 reasons

1. Weird color reproduction in certain lights for skin tones, not even raw helps.2. Overheating! OMG!!! I HATE YOU SONY.. Maybe it's because I live in Houston, but mid day video even in 1080 has failed me too often.3. Articulating screen! As an occasional vLogger, it's very very nice to see yourself. I have a not so awesome solution of using my phone attached to a joby + bike phone holder setup, but it's not so awesome. 4. Not a bad thing but I thought I'd use 4k more often than I do. MPEG is so much easier for my workflow I never use 4k since it only records in AVCHD.

That said, I love my 70D and hope this will be a slightly smaller version I can throw in my backpack for a daily camera + long walk around trips...

When I wanted a small camera for travel, I looked at the M series and decided that I couldn't live with the slow focusing and limited controls, and bought an SL1. I've been waiting to hear about an SL2, but given the improvements in focusing speed and controls, it is pretty certain that Canon will abandon the SL line and consider the new M5 as a replacement for the SL1.

I'm tempted by an M5 - especially if the price drops significantly in a few months.

I have looked at Fuji several times. The problem i have every time i do is the lens cost. The cheapest AF lens listed on B&H is $400 and it's a slow kit lens, meanwhile Canon offer lenses like the 50 1.8 for just over $100 or the 24 2.8 for $150.

B&H lists 22 lenses for EOS that are under $200, so while that X-A3 is cheaper, if you are on a budget and include glass, it's not actually less money. You have to have lenses to shoot a camera.

@junz, well i don't discuss things in terms of how "most" people would buy them. I don't buy kit lenses usually, i buy body only and get faster lenses after the fact. If we are worried about what most people do we shouldn't even talk about ILC bc the vast majority of people use phones.

You heard it here first folks - the touchscreen is gimmicky! Being a gimmick it offers nothing for usability and even DPReview are wrong when they say it's "The most striking feature of the EOS M5 is its touchscreen interface and how this integrates with its Dual Pixel AF system."

@caravan says it's a gimmick so it must be so. Who needs speedier and more intuitive operation and ability to change your focus point when the camera is up to your eye, it's a gimmick for chrissakes! @caravan wants features, not gimmicks!

Touchscreens are for nerds...Used one on the Oly EM5...good for focus and capture...but,,seeing the screen outdoors is a challenge in itself if not using the EVF and moving the focus point with the left hand for me not a smooth or intuitive as a joystick with the right hand...

Olso going through the menu to change settings an reviewing pics a slower way of doing things with a touchscreen...

Physical control always a more consistent and reliable way to operate "anything "...

Plastic is your best shot? This is the 21st century. The most popular police, military, and personal defense handgun in the world is the polymer-framed Glock. Plastic is strong, flexible, and doesn't corrode.

I think this camera has 2 downsides1/_ no in camera image stabilization, this would make a huge difference when used with 3rd party lenses.2/_ price, 1100 usd with kit lens. With this price, there is a plenty of choices that would make it just fade.

Not just 3rd party lenses, but even non-IS Canon lenses (probably the reason it was left out) would benefit from in camera stabilization. Those of us with too many Canon lenses, flashes, remotes, etc. will just suck it up and get this thing or the next version. Look how many bought the previous severely limited M series Canons!

Canon Technology is lagging behind it's competitors. This camera should be released 4 years ago. I went to Samsung NX1 (I also own a Canon 7d) because I want a better / lighter camera, which Canon didn't had that time and still does not have today!4K video is not important to everyone (it is to me) but after seeing the last three Canon cameras, (7d mk2, 5D mk IV, M5) I'm almost sure that Canon doesn't have the techonology to put a 4k processor in a small body. Canon 5D mk IV 4k video implementation is a joke because they don't have the image/video processors that can deliver h264 or h265 in a small body.Canon can you give me an NX1 equivalent in a near future so that I can use my (great) Canon Glass? I can't even use my EF lens on m5 :( :(

Oh, if only Canon had the foresight to offer an adapter for just this thing - using EF and EF-S lenses on M bodies! You know, something like an EF to EF-M unit that offers full AF capability with EF and EF-S lenses. If they did, it would be a bonus if it offered a tripod foot for better balancing.

Coming next, there will be an intelligent adapter to use canon lenses on NX. There are a couple of clever persons working on this and I have big hopes. So we'll fill the gap for the next 4-5 years, i.e. until Canon can release something which is about as good as NX1 from 2014.

Canon has an ef/efs to efm adapter. How about a Metabones Speedbooster ef to efm. Use your 50 1.4 as a 50 1.0 or your 70-200 2.8 as a 70-200 2.0 or 24-105 4.0 as a 24-105 2.8! Or... 50 1.2 as a 50 0.9!!!

@interestingnessYou fixed nothing, I quote Richard Butler, who is a highly competent journalist and tester from this site. I prefer to get my information from him and the reviewers over at Cinema5D and others who do controlled tests and know what they are doing..

I can pull any unsubstantiated post from a user with no proper posting history claiming it overheated while it was still in the box in the shop.

Hey, if you'd rather believe 1 single person than hundreds if not thousands of others that say different, when they can describe the conditions it happens and they can even make the overheating repeatable, more power to you!

So you think 'thousands' of people have complained about overheating do you? You're even more stupid than I imagined. If you read my posts on here I provided a link elsewhere to Doug Sanford who is a freelance DP and tested the camera for Cinema5D. His camera overheated after 3.5 hours of continuous use. Do I disbelieve him? No. I have read countless posts on Sony forums from users with no history complaining of all manner of things, including one memorable one who said his camera overheated after shooting stills for four minutes. These people are not genuine posters and take what they write with a pinch of salt and so should you.

Looks like the sort of camera the M series should have been in the first place. I was always absolutely mystified why the dual pixel AF didn't debut on the M series - it looked designed for the format. But this late, at this price point... plastic body, no weather sealing, no 4k [which Panasonic also effectively leverage for stills shooting, don't forget] and it looks like a duffer. It will sell because it has the Canon stencil, but it's poor competition for some MFT cameras at half the price, let alone at the premium end.

@Yossarian1No, the IQ won't be better with the native lens offerings of the M5. M43's simply has a much greater lens library made specifically for the format, and many are stellar lenses and much faster than what Canon has on offer here. Hopefully Canon addresses this in the coming years by actually making more lenses like the 22mm f2 for this system.

Yeah IQ is certainly not guaranteed to be any better. All things being equal, it SHOULD be, but then Canon's 24mp APSc sensors SHOULD be a match for the one in Nikon D7200. And it's not. In any case the difference between MFT and APSc is nowhere near as great as the latter is to 35mm format. At the end of the day, it's what's acceptable in any given situation and in most, that small edge of IQ [even between FF and MFT in most circumstances the practical differences can be negligible - I have a 5DII and a few current MFTs]. In such situations the usability and durability of kit is more important.

No Jeff, I don't consider the 22 mm F2 to be an excellent lens. The slow Focus keeps it from being excellent. In terms of Optics, yes, it is excellent. But Optics aren't everything. And I love how you seem to imply that I have no clue about that particular lens. When I owned the original M, it was the lens I used most often. Therefore, I'm quite familiar with its limitations and that is why I excluded it from the range of potentially excellent lenses. Ironically, I will be owning that combination again in a few days. I actually gave it to my parents a couple of years ago to use and they never do because the focus is pretty slow. My mom's Note 4 focuses faster so she ends up using that instead.

Well, the implication was your own due to the lack of mention of that lens in your post. The Original M was a notoriously slow focusing body and so how much of the slow focus was due to the lens and how much was due to the body? I suspect (without data) that a lot was due to the latter, which has been greatly improved on the M5.

Until we have data for the 22mm F2 on the M5, we don't really know how quickly it will focus.

It's the lens. I actually adapted the EF-S 55-250mm IS one time and it snapped into focus so fast it actually jarred the camera a bit in my hand. Now, part of that was inertia and torque, but the ability to drive the lenses was there.

It seems that this is aimed at a slightly more professional audience than previous M series. As such, I hope this doesn't replace the M3 entirely, as it's not that old a camera. Too many manufacturers abandon previous devices far too soon - there's a couple of new features that could potentially be implemented on the M3 via firmware update without making a dent on M5 sales. Touch focus whilst using the plug in EVF unit for example - I was quite disappointed this didn't work when I bought my EVF last week.

I see a lot of discussion and comparisons made with Sony. The Canon wins for the following reasons:

- The Sony lens lineup is very average. You need to move to Zeiss range to really appreciate what the A6300 is really capable of. Problem is that the Zeiss range is very expensive.

-The Canon range is limited but their existing EF-M range is of great quality and pricing particularly the 22mm and 11-22mm which punch well above their weight. Canon only need to add in a few more primes to the range and it will significantly enhance its position.

- The edge in features that Sony had over the Canon in AF speed, EVF, FPS, image quality appears to have been considerably narrowed with the new M5. If it is the same sensor as the 80D then there is a significant improvement in dynamic range over previous sensors.

- Canon colours. Nuff said.

- No matter what anyone says, Canon and Nikon have the brand pedigree and when they bother to put out something decent people invariably take notice.

Agree. In many ways it is like the G1X (II) that we wanted, rather than what exactly we got. As it happens the M5 is almost identical in size (even with the 22mm lens on) to the G1XmkII:

W H DCanon M5 116 89 61Canon G1XmkII 117 74 66

The M5 has the new sensor and new Digic 7 processor. Built-in EVF. And the fantastic ability to use EF lenses (thus offering an excellent second camera option to those who already own EF glass, or an upgrade path for those who plan/want to move up to 5D etc). Also, Canon filed a patent for a EF-M 600mm f / 5.6 DO IS, ie. that will be ultra-compact for such performance; we know that Canon are not going to retail such a DO camera if it doesn't perform (the market has always been conservative about DO--for unscientific reasons--but with the M5, Canon should deploy their DO technology to produce lenses none of the others can, to give performance no one will believe re size).

I'm a Fujifilm shooter and will be buying this to test it as I still have a large number of canon lenses but was waiting for the right EVF body to come around to suit. Love my Fuji stuff but if this doesn't disappoint I'll consider moving back to Canon.

Sam I think you will want to wait and see how the EF lens perform with AF. Adapting lens usually come with a penalty to AF, If canon have got round this and they have a good chance because they own the tech as opposed to 3rd party solutions with SOny, then its a compelling argument for anyone with Canon glass. However at the moment comparing native lens line ups I think that Fuji is still a better option for mirrorless. ALso X-T2 has 4k and very very good AF

Just look at that photo of the M5 on the palm and tell me Canon don't know how to make cameras.

Just look at the covering texture, waiting patiently yet eagerly to meld with your skin and become part of the hand. The shape of that grip enticing your fingers to assume the position, and that knurled knob around the shutter release, just itching to whizz through the available shutter speeds or apertures with a simple twitch of a single finger muscle.

Oh yes, Canon know cameras.

But I hope they learn to know users too.

Two important features I don't see mentioned.

1. Charging from USB2. Proper use of exposure compensation in manual mode with auto ISO.

Both ominously absent from M3.

USB charging is a big factor in whether equipment gets to come with me or not. It's why I take my Sony A7 instead of my E-M5.

I like control, and I like assistance too. But when auto ISO is being naughty and getting things wrong, I like a way to tell it that too, via EC.

rrccad, I'm going by the DPR review for the M3, in their cons they list it as:

. Basic Auto ISO functionality

It goes back to the time when I was shooting orang-u-tan in Borneo. They move quick so need to have a fast shutter speed. The light from the canopy changes dramatically, the subject may be in light or shade from one second to the next, and the lens may already be at the widest aperture. It's just nice to have options and control, although ISO invariance is gradually changing that.

@Interestingness yes it's a real scenario, but granted not a common one.

More typical would be using my camera in the morning, finding somewhere for lunch, use a battery to recharge my camera and then on to the afternoon shoot.

Another scenario might simply be finding myself in a hotel room with a single available power outlet. Plugging the battery into the outlet and two devices into the battery means I wake up to charged devices and battery.

Poor Canon, they are still stuck in the 1080p world . Pay $2K for the XC10 point & shoot without EVF if you want 4K UHD. The XC10 won worst video camera of 2015, worst still camera of 2015 and #3 worst lens of 2015 at Camera Store TV.https://youtu.be/Mexs7HvHR2I?t=1317

ROBBED! The audacity of Canon, those b@stards! Instead of offering an adapter for $150.- they should have not even bothered and just made you spend thousands duplicating your EF/EF-S lens collection in M mount instead. What was Canon thinking, taking advantage of their customers and milking them out of $150.- and opening the entire lens catalogue for users.

Yeah, and people can't even play Pokemon Go on the M5. But seriously, the number of photographers and photo enthusiasts dreaming of framing that perfect shot, arms stretched out like a boob, squinting at their mobile's LCD, is smaller than you think.

Canon are a few years too late and I still prefer having 4k with my year old Panasonic G7 that was much cheaper. My last Canon was the 550D from 6 years ago. Can't believe how far they have fallen behind the competition since then. I hope they go back to making cameras in this price range that have something more advanced than the competition but that now looks unlikely. Would love to use my Canon lenses on a Canon body again one day.

I have the G7 and I use to have a 550d also, I loved the 550d but for video it was a complete marketing scam, I got sucked into the Dslr video craze but I soon learned canon made dslrs that really was giving 720 resolution and not 1080. But still I did love the stills... but now I really like the G7, it gives me the best of both worlds, still image quality is first rate, Panasonic lens can be very sharp

Aim small, miss small I guess - discussions most likely had by the decision makers at Canon on the subject of their mirrorless efforts. Had they gone after the mighty A7RII and failed, it could have been disastrous on so many levels. You gotta start somewhere I say... ;)

Interesting decisions by Canon.It's big. Why not give us a mirrorless camera the uses the EOS lenses?What are the mirrorless advantages? EVF Precision focus on still targets Smaller size camera and lensesIf we're not getting a much smaller, lighter camera, why not go full frame EOS and let us use Canon's jewels (which we already own)?

I don't think it's the dual pixel. As mentioned the M3 is worse and i think it doesn't have dual pixel AF (?).

It's just that mirrorless in general requires continuous Live View to function. Not just to display the image to us, but also the contrast based AF that uses that image. And they all do, even if PDAF is available it's only supplementary.

The Fuji X-T2 is rated 340 shots, while with the battery grip for a total of 3 batteries it is rated 1000 shots. So it takes 3 batteries to rival a DSLR. But the X-T2 battery is small, 1200mAh.

I'm sure that a slightly bigger or better battery would be able to push it to something like 450 shots - if they really tried just a little harder to incorporate that into the body design. Really don't think that would have to increase body size all that much or at all.

I know a lot of users are commenting upon how Canon is late to market, and how its 2013 technology in 2016, but the fact remains, this is the first serious foray.It does not have 4K but

IF the Dual Pixel AF on this camera works better than competition, it will sway photographers.

Sony released cheap mirrorless but cheap lenses came much later. With 18-150 Canon shows its coming in with lenses too.

I have a feeling, that Canon is going to own Sony on the lens front with reasonably priced M lenses covering wide angle to telephoto within a year.

Sony brought out amazing cameras, but the lens investment required was staggering.

And last but not the least, do not forget Canon's marketing juggernaut. Sony is a rank amateur(unless its video).

That said, I am happy because more competition means better stuff for everyoneAnd of course do not forget, every digital mirrorless or DSLR can allow you to create magic, if you can't its not the camera, but you

@NobbyNo... no pancakes. Just small primes. Pancakes suffer from slower AF due to the AF system needing to move the whole assembly. An example of this: Panasonic's 20mm f1.7 (much like the Canon 22mm f2). Stellar lens for IQ, but its prohibitively slow to AF. Now compare that with Panasonic's 15mm f1.7. The 15 is a wee bit longer, but quite miniscule regardless. It has zero AF problems.

'I have a feeling, that Canon is going to own Sony on the lens front with reasonably priced M lenses covering wide angle to telephoto within a year.'

You are the only person to think this. M-mount is not that much younger than e-mount. Given the pace of development so far there is more likelihood there will be no new lenses within a year, than anything to compete with Sony. As for 'owning Sony' that might be what you dream of, but you're more likely to see Sasquatch doing riverdance. Canon's 'marketing juggernaut' is highly efficient but it cannot work miracles.

These comments show a complete misunderstanding of the advantage of the m4/3's system. Light camera bodies is not the issue -- there are plenty of small light DSLR bodies, as well as Sony mirrorless and Fuji mirrorless bodies. The m4/3's advantage relates to the smaller size and weight of high quality lenses -- for equivalent FOV.A camera bag with a small, lightweight body and 4 or 5 large, heavyweight lenses is not as appealing to most people as the same bag with a lightweight body and 4 or 5 small, lightweight lenses that provide the same FOV.An objective comparison between APS-C and m4/3's image quality will reveal no advantage at normal viewing and print sizes -- I regularly print 24X32 and 30X40 prints from m4/3's files that are absolutely beautiful.In addition, I'm not sure of the current count of native m4/3's lenses on the market, but it's a truckload vs the small number offered by non-m4/3's mirrorless systems.

Only someone inexperienced with M43 could say that. AS a Canon FF shooter I can tell you that M43/Panasonic/Olympus is THE mirrorless system.

Full featured cameras with a range of capabilities and price points. In the case of Panasonic, class leading video spec. A huge excellent lens line-up that just keeps getting better. Excellent size and ergonomics.

It's funny, I shoot Canon FF for the lenses. But Canon has ignored lens development in mirrorless. M43 is all about the lenses, and nothing else comes close.

it's hard to say that's cheaper than the US is .. in actuality I think you'd have to be a bit silly to suggest it IS cheaper.. Gas,etc and transportation is simply alot more expensive outside of the States.

so it's not just the exchange . it's everything else tied to the countries involved.

rrccad Foreign technology is taxed higher here in the EU, a stupid measure to protect local manufacturers that deters people from buying and getting acquainted with new tech at a faster pace #dinosinpoliticsEU

We will need around 1,100 for an aps-c camera (Sony, Canon, Panasonic) and 1,800 if we want a Fuji XT2...And the first A7 is 1,398 with kit lens (new in Amazon with Prime)

Not saying it is a better camera though, however it is a full frame camera and the difference in price are 200 bucks :P. (yeah I know the A7 has PDAF locked behind its firmware if you use adapted lenses, sadly)

It is more ridiculous when we compare the price of the XT2 with the Sony A7II.

And it becomes EVEN more ridiculous if we compare these APS-C mirrorless cameras prices against prosumer APS-C DSLR's....

mehExcept for the DPAF, the feature set is not enough to make me sidegrade from the M+ML to M5. In the mean time my 4K video needs are now being covered by Panasonic.Will UPGRADE when/if Canon releases a M body with substantial better features.Disappointed that they didn't release a fast prime.

Pretty big advancement in mirrorless world. Sony should sense the urge for touch screen. I have the following to be answered by Canon:Weather seal on both M5 body and the new 18-150 lense; Silent shutter; AF sensitity of -3ev

I think there is a danger that, if this camera sells well, Canon will think they have done enough for now with its mirrorless offerings.

There is nothing really in the spec list that screams anything more than 'also ran', and good sales (let's face it, Canon cameras DO sell) might make Canon complacent, causing it to fall behind again very quickly.

There are no native lenses that are really attractive to the enthusiast or semi-pro photographer, and adapters are not the solution in the long term. Canon need native lenses, and fast.

i bought the A6000 because i wanted a build-in EVF and the EOS-M line did not offer me one.

i have the kit lens and the 55-210mm for my A6000.both are mediocre lenses. but all i need for a travel camera.with canon i will probably have better image quality and in case of the telephoto even smaller size.

i will sell my A6000 and enjoy my EF lenses, touchscreen and DPAF.plus i can use my speedlites and other canon equipment.

Now it's going to be interesting. Making lens is just child's play for Canon, but only if they take this game seriously. Now Nikon also has already started something in the factory I guess. Let the game begins. Next year, a FF Canon mirrorless with even better dynamic range and ISO compared to 5d Mk iv is expected. Then Sony has to fight against Canon's color rendition, ergonomics, lens line up which will not be easy.

A lot of great ILCs were released in 2016, among them several excellent options in the midrange segment. Click through for a refresher on the standout models, and for your chance to vote on which was best. Vote now

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